JPS59225538A - Method for inspecting semiconductor device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To eliminate the generation of failure by removing a rotary mechanism which rotates the direction of arrangement of the group of measuring probes by a method wherein the group of the probes is fixedly positioned and thus fixed in its direction of arrangement, and the direction of the group and the direction of movement of a mounting base are put into agreement by changing in imagination the direction of movement of the mounting base whereon a semiconductor wafer is mounted. CONSTITUTION:The semiconductor wafer 6 is mounted on the mounting base 5 of a wafer prober, the semiconductor device 2 on the wafer being inspected by electric signals through said group 3 in contact with an electrode pad 8, and being intermittently fed by the transverse or longitudinal direction of a chip size after the inspection finishes, and then the next semiconductor device is inspected. Here, in order to put the direction of arrangement of the mounting base 5 into agreement with that of the group, the group is fixedly positioned and fixed in its direction of arrangement (x-y), and the direction of movemnt of the mounting base 5 of the wafer prober is rotated at an angle theta1 from the direction (x-y) to the direction (X'-Y'). As a result, the direction of movement (x-y) of the probes of the group 3 is thereby fitted to the direction of movement (X'-Y') of the mounting base 5 of the wafer prober.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method of testing a semiconductor device, and particularly to a method of testing a semiconductor device on a semiconductor wafer.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is a device called a Ueno-prober that inspects semiconductor devices regularly arranged on a semiconductor wafer. To test semiconductor devices using this wafer prober, first place the semiconductor wafer on the stage, set the measurement probe group on the wafer prober, and place the stage below the measurement probe group. Move the stage and rotate the stage to align the moving direction of the stage with the direction of the dividing line (scripe line) of the semiconductor device on the semiconductor wafer, and then make sure that the moving direction of the stage is in a fixed direction. While it is regulated, rotate the measurement probe group to align the arrangement direction of the measurement probe group with the direction of the movement force of the stage Ω, and after aligning these directions, rotate the measurement probe group. It contacts the electrode pad of a semiconductor device on a semiconductor wafer, sends an electrical signal to the semiconductor device through the measurement probe group, sends the response signal again to the determination section of the inspection equipment through the measurement probe group, and then The stand was moved according to the size of the semiconductor device, and the semiconductor devices on the semiconductor wafer were inspected one chip at a time.

However, when rotating the arrangement direction of the measurement probe group, the following problem occurs. That is, first, in order to rotate the arrangement direction of the measurement probe group, the wafer prober must be provided with a mechanism for rotating the substrate holding the measurement probe group, which increases the manufacturing cost of the wafer prober. Furthermore, failures of the rotation mechanism of the board often occurred. Furthermore, it is necessary to operate the above mechanism to align the arrangement direction of the measurement probe group with the moving direction of the stage, and this requires work to adjust the arrangement direction of the measurement probe group to the moving direction of the stage. There was a problem in that the operations of releasing, adjusting the rotation, and fixing the rotating part had to be repeated, which required a lot of man-hours.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the problems associated with the rotation mechanism of the measurement probe group in the array direction of the Uni-No-Prober, and to provide a wafer prober that is inexpensive and requires fewer man-hours for operation.

That is, in the present invention, the measurement probe group is fixed and its array direction is fixed, and the moving direction of the stage on which the semiconductor unit is placed is apparently changed, thereby changing the array direction and mounting direction of the probe group. The present invention is characterized in that it matches the moving direction of the table, eliminates the need for a mechanism for rotating the arrangement direction of the measurement probe group, and solves problems associated with the rotation mechanism. .

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating the relationship between semiconductor devices on a semiconductor wafer, the arrangement direction of the measurement probe group, and the moving direction of the wafer prober stage. It is a schematic diagram explaining the method of inspection. In FIG. 1, the directions of independent movement are the moving direction (X-Y) of the stage 5 and the rotation direction θ of the stage 5. In the conventional wafer prober, the direction in which the measurement probe group 3 is arranged is (x-
y) was movable in the rotational direction γ. Second
In the figure, a semiconductor wafer 6 is placed on a stage 5 of a wafer prober, and a semiconductor device 2 on the semiconductor wafer is inspected by electrical signals through a measurement probe group 3 in contact with an electrode pad 8. The semiconductor device is intermittently fed by the width or length of the chip size, and the next semiconductor device is inspected. Here, conventionally, the measurement probe group 3 is fixed to the substrate 7, and the substrate 7 is rotated by the rotating mechanism 4, so that the arrangement direction of the probe group in FIG. 1 is changed from (xy) to ( By rotating in the xLy direction by the rotation angle γ□, the moving direction (XY) of the stage 5 and the arrangement direction (xLy') of the probe group were matched.

In the present invention, the probe group shown in FIG. ) direction, the arrangement direction (x-y) of the probes of the measurement probe group 3 is aligned with the moving direction (x/+y/) of the stage 5 of the wafer prober. To rotate the moving direction of the stage 5 by θ□, first move the stage 5 in the Y direction in FIG. 1, and then move the stage 5 in the Xl and X directions. As a result, the moving direction of the stage 5 becomes the X' force direction. Similarly, the fitting can be achieved as the sum of the movements in the Y' force direction, the X direction, and the Y direction.In other words, the moving direction of the stage can be made to be the apparent (X'-Y') direction. However, the difference θ1 between the (X-Y) direction and the (X'-Y') direction is the difference between the direction of the scribe line 1 on the first semiconductor wafer and the moving direction of the stage (X-Y). After that, rotate the stage and align the direction of the scribe line with the arrangement direction (x-y) of the four measurement probe groups, and then measure by finding the rotation angle of the stage. do. In addition, this value θ□ is stored in the storage section of the wafer prober, and from the next wafer, the value of θ is read from the storage section, and the direction of the scribe line l and the moving direction of the stage 5 (X-Y
), the stage is rotated 01 times, and the moving direction of the stage is also rotated 01 times to (X'-'Y'), and the semiconductor devices on the semiconductor wafer are inspected.

Therefore, according to the present invention, in order to match the direction of arrangement of the measurement probe group with the direction of movement of the stage by apparently changing the direction of movement of the stage, the direction of arrangement of the measurement probe group is rotated. No rotation mechanism is required; 1. It is possible to eliminate the increase in the manufacturing cost of the wafer prober due to the rotation mechanism and the failure of the rotation mechanism, and it is possible to reduce the number of man-hours required to operate the rotation mechanism. It is effective.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating the relationship between semiconductor devices on a semiconductor wafer, the arrangement direction of the measurement probe group, and the moving direction of the wafer prober stage. Figure 2 is a diagram showing how the semiconductor device is inspected with the wafer prober. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram for explaining the method. ■...Semiconductor sea urchin...-The dividing line (scribe line) of the semiconductor device on the top, 2...Semiconductor device, 3...Measurement probe 7jY, 4...Measurement probe group is fixed. a rotation mechanism for a substrate, 5... a stage, 6... a semiconductor wafer, 7... a substrate to which a measurement probe group is fixed, 8...
・Electrode pad, patent applicant NEC Corporation

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) In the process of inspecting multiple semiconductor devices regularly arranged on a semiconductor wafer, the measurement probe group is fixed and the arrangement direction is fixed, and the stage on which the semiconductor wafer is placed is set in plane coordinates. 1. A method for inspecting a semiconductor device, comprising: displacing the stage in two directions, and by combining the two directions, the direction of movement of the stage is aligned with the direction in which a group of probes are arranged.